TRICOLORED HERON

by Aleksandra Hernandez

When I finally found you absorbed by water,

I caught the tips of your blue grey wings reflected in the sky, 

And I imagined their rusty green undertones perceptible only when bathed in light.

Your stillness in motion reminded me of the stillness of dinosaurs and saber-toothed cats, 

And of the lavender ghost of you everywhere 

and nowhere to be found.

I never see you hunting like your heron kin.

You just roost motionless on top of powerlines

Or by the edge of the river

Unphazed.

To some, you are a supernatural being,

Like Zeus’ sacred eagle

The all-seeing seer and executor of celestial directives,

Following rainbow tracks with no end in sight;

To others, you are a good omen, 

A harbinger of good news and a guide to safety,

Blessed with the gift of color.

To me, however, you are just a bird.

A dazzling, Everglades beauty, to be sure

And a reminder of all that is good, and pure

In this god-forsaken world.

Hiding from the horizon behind river grass and mangrove,

Your reflection reminds me you are as real as the

glassy swamp water moving at an imperceptively slow rate,

Even though you stood so very still 

Like one of those birds in Klee’s garden.